Made the entire cake a WEEK TOO EARLY!! GAH!!!

I've been sitting here waiting for a cake pick up all day....wondering when this woman would get here - when I had a creepy thought that perhaps I got the day wrong. After checking my emails - I realized I did.

I have a two tier, super cool, Nemo themed cake, covered in fondant, hand painted, with TONS of handmade coral, rocks, plants, etc. sitting in my fridge. WHAT DO I DO??? It is a WASC cake with Oreo Truffle Filling and Vanilla Bean Buttercream. Do I need to try and pry every handmade piece off, peel off the fondant and save what I can of the deocrations? Do you I scrap the whole thing and start over (nooooo!!!)? Do I let this gorgeous cake sit in my fridge until next week - will it stay fresh that long? help....

I would be inclined to take off whatever decorations that can be saved and reused, and then give the cake to a neighbour or friend with kids and tell them they just got a free cake.

I don't think I would feel comfortable refrigerating or freezing a cake that's been made for someone (particularily a paying customer) when the incorrect timing wasn't their doing.

And...I would have to see the humour in it so that I don't beat myself up too much about it. :)

Very well said and I completely agree with just trying to save what you can...first take a few pictures of course , than take off what in good faith can be used again. I know its hard but try and smile and remake the cake next week.

I ended up being able to pull all of the decor off and send the top tier to our neighbors, the bottom tier is going to work with hubby tomorrow. As an added kick in the pants, this was a "friend" deal where I only charged her cost - which means I am eating $$ on this one. *sigh* (Still can't believe I did it! gah!) And I am 100% able to see the humor in this situation. doh!

Bummer! Great cake. I did the same thing once, but the cake was for my nephew, so we froze it. It came out perfectly from the freezer. If you keep a cake from getting freezer burn and don't have any freezer smells, I am not sure if it would have been a problem to freeze the cake.

I honestly would have taken off the fondant and frozen the frosted & filled tiers. I have frozen baked cakes and frosting on numerous occassions. I initially did a test with my freezer and unknowing family and friends to see how fresh the cakes were as much as 6 wks out. No one had any clue they weren't freshly baked! Even when put up against a cake that was freshly baked!!! Pull it out a the evening before you plan to decorate and let it thaw naturally on the counter and add the fondant and decorations.

You have a great attitude about it! I am sure next weeks cake will be as marvelous as this one!

There is absolutely NO reason why you couldn't have frozen the entire decorated cake and still have it look and taste great next week.

Box it, wrap the box in plastic wrap & foil. Put the wrapped box in the refrigerator the day before pick up. Several hours before pick up, put the wrapped box on the counter. Unwrap the box right before pick up.

I initially went with the box/saran wrap/foil wrap/freeze idea...then thought "it is not HER fault that I screwed up the dates - she deserves a fresh cake" So - I pulled it out & pulled it apart. Ah well....Better that I was a week too early, than a week too late, right? Just kills me that I'm losing $$. :/

AThat is a beautiful cake. I'm so sorry that happened. It would eat at me if I didn't do a fresh cake. If I was super busy I'd try to freeze it. Hey, practice makes perfect. It's not the 1st time this has happened to someone and it won't be the last. :)

AThat is a beautiful cake. I'm so sorry that happened. It would eat at me if I didn't do a fresh cake. If I was super busy I'd try to freeze it. Hey, practice makes perfect. It's not the 1st time this has happened to someone and it won't be the last. :)

Truth? You could have frozen the whole thing. I did a HUGE cake for a child's birthday party last year and the child ended up getting sick so they had to postpone his party until the next weekend. I told him to put it in the box and cover the box with plastic wrap and foil. They froze the cake (which had a ton of fondant decorations on it) and thawed it out the day of the party. They said it tasted totally fresh and moist.

I made the coral by rolling out MMF, cutting it into odd shapes and then using a large piping tip to cut holes in it - then I laid the pieces over crumpled paper towels.

On the positive side of things - after finishing the cake I realized that I really wanted to add some luster dust/shimmer to some of the pieces to give a more girly/underwater feel to it. I chose not to because I only wanted the sparkle on a few pieces and I was afraid I would get it all over the cake if I tried to add it tp the pieces already on the cake. SO...now that I've yanked off all the pieces, I can add my luster dust that I wanted.

I made the coral by rolling out MMF, cutting it into odd shapes and then using a large piping tip to cut holes in it - then I laid the pieces over crumpled paper towels.

On the positive side of things - after finishing the cake I realized that I really wanted to add some luster dust/shimmer to some of the pieces to give a more girly/underwater feel to it. I chose not to because I only wanted the sparkle on a few pieces and I was afraid I would get it all over the cake if I tried to add it tp the pieces already on the cake. SO...now that I've yanked off all the pieces, I can add my luster dust that I wanted.

See! I knew I would find that dang silver lining!

Thank you-I will have to remember that and try that as I practice...:)

Truth? You could have frozen the whole thing. I did a HUGE cake for a child's birthday party last year and the child ended up getting sick so they had to postpone his party until the next weekend. I told him to put it in the box and cover the box with plastic wrap and foil. They froze the cake (which had a ton of fondant decorations on it) and thawed it out the day of the party. They said it tasted totally fresh and moist.

Good to know!! I just asked if fondant could be frozen on another post. I always freeze my stacked iced cakes so I can work ahead of time and not feel so stressed when decorating. All this rain here in Fl is causing a grad party to be postponed and I have already started working on the cake that was scheduled for pick up tomorrow morning. I was just going to donate it though to a daycare or something. Btw, that's how I got started. Practicing and donating to fire houses, pediatrician office, daycare, salon. That's the ticket right there!!

Truth? You could have frozen the whole thing. I did a HUGE cake for a child's birthday party last year and the child ended up getting sick so they had to postpone his party until the next weekend. I told him to put it in the box and cover the box with plastic wrap and foil. They froze the cake (which had a ton of fondant decorations on it) and thawed it out the day of the party. They said it tasted totally fresh and moist.

I've had the same thing happen to me & the cake was absolutely delicious.